The Father's Leave-Taking
This print portrays Hunt’s second wife, Edith, holding their daughter Gladys. The pose recalls a Madonna of Humility, and the intense realism is characteristically endowed with symbolic resonance—after losing his first wife to sudden illness the artist was deeply aware of life’s fragility. The contrast between the grand classical column and domestic interior glimpsed through a doorway also echoes Renaissance nativities.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Father's Leave-Taking
- Series/Portfolio: published in "The Portfolio of the Etching Club," plate 12
- Artist: William Holman Hunt (British, London 1827–1910 London)
- Publisher: The Etching Club (London)
- Date: 1879
- Medium: Etching; proof
- Dimensions: image: 7 1/8 x 9 5/8 in. (18.1 x 24.5 cm)
plate: 7 7/16 x 9 7/8 in. (18.9 x 25.1 cm)
sheet: 13 3/8 x 18 7/8 in. (34 x 47.9 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Gift of James David Draper, 2002
- Object Number: 2002.61.95
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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